MUSEUM SIAM in Bangkok is dedicated to exploring all things Thai. Until July 2nd, that includes an exhibition on the Asian financial crisis, which began on that date 20 years ago, when the Thai baht lost its peg with the dollar. The exhibition features two seesaws, showing how many baht were required to balance one dollar, both before the crisis (25) and after (over 50 at one point). Visitors can also read the testimony of some of the victims, including a high-flying stockbroker who was reduced to selling sandwiches, and a businesswoman whose boss told her to “take care of the work for me” before hanging himself. (In Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea, 10,400 people killed themselves as a result …

WHEN the financial crisis was at its height in 2008, being a debtor was a dreadful experience. Banks and companies scrambled desperately to get the financing they needed.
But the balance of power in the financial markets can easily shift. In 2005 and 2006, credit had been easy to get on generous terms. Not only were loans cheap and plentiful; they also suffered from fewer restrictions. Until then, corporate loans had many covenants offering safeguards for lenders if the debtor’s financial position were to deteriorate. But 2005-06 saw the emergence of “covenant-lite” loans in which such restrictions were virtually non-existent.

The cycle has turned again. Analysis by Moody’s, a ratings agency, shows …

THE Swedish economy is, by all accounts, booming. Output, adjusted for inflation, has grown by 2.8% on average since 2009 and rose by a robust 3.2% last year. In April Swedish inflation nearly hit the target of 2% aimed at by the Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank. Yet the Riksbank has chosen to leave interest rates at an extraordinarily low level: below zero, in fact, at -0.50%. In addition, it is increasing stimulative asset purchases, known as quantitative easing (QE). What is the Riksbank up to?Sweden’s central bank is not alone in erring on the side of dovishness. Even as post-crisis doldrums give way to steady growth, central banks worldwide tend to remain cautious, because often&nbsp;faster growth has not yet led to high inflation. American economic growth has been chirpy for years, and unemployment in America has just fallen to a 16-year low of 4.3%, yet the Federal Reserve’s target range is still only at 0.75-1%. The Fed is tightening—it has ended its own QE programme and begun lifting rates—but at a slower pace than it aimed to achieve two years ago. In the euro area, the European Central Bank (ECB) is still buying bonds by the barrel in an effort to keep inflation moving towards its target. Small, open economies face the additional complication that capital flows from abroad can …